Ring Gear part 2

[JoMo]

Having stripped the gearbox out of Dorians AK 350 Chevy yesterday we found that the ring gear on the flywheel was chewed up over most of its circumferance. The starter motor was not loose and had a shim in place. He has been offered a 153 tooth flywheel and matching starter but his flywheel has 168 teeth. Can anyone answer either of the following?

Will the 153 fit and should he use it rather than refit a 168.

Should there be preload on the clutch release arm? When we took the bellhousing off the clutch release fork was pushing it away from the engine.

[Iain]

Not sure if it's relavent or not but I had issues with Flywheel, Ring Gear & Starter on my Ford Setup. It appears that the flywheel/ring gear is linked to the bellhousing so that the mounting for the starter will line up and engage the ring gear properly. I had the wrong combination (too smaller a flwheel/ring gear) and wound up with a gap between the starter and the ring gear.

There is the added issue on Ford engines of the long nose or short nose starter too. That is dependant as to which side your ring gear sits on the flywheel (clutch or engine side)

Hope this sheds a little light...

Cheers...

[ss64ii]

Originally Posted by JoMo

Having stripped the gearbox out of Dorians AK 350 Chevy yesterday we found that the ring gear on the flywheel was chewed up over most of its circumferance. The starter motor was not loose and had a shim in place. He has been offered a 153 tooth flywheel and matching starter but his flywheel has 168 teeth. Can anyone answer either of the following?

Will the 153 fit and should he use it rather than refit a 168.

Should there be preload on the clutch release arm? When we took the bellhousing off the clutch release fork was pushing it away from the engine.

The 153 flywheel will not mesh with the starter as it is smaller in diameter than the 168 teeth flywheel.
As far as I'm aware there shouldn't be any preload on the clutch, but I'm an auto man myself!!
hope that helps